Vinegar killed my seedlings.

I asked this question earlier in the organics section but their is never a lot of people looking in there so I'll try it here. I wanted to bring down the ph of my tap water from 7.2 to 6.5. Being cheap and not wanting to use a lot of chemicals I read about using vinegar. I mixed it with the water and checked the ph until it was at 6.5. I then let it sit and checked it again. I watered the seedlings and the next morning they were all laying down and really mushy in the stalks. All 9 of them were beyond help. I cut 2 and dipped in rooting hormone and stuck in dirt to try to save them but who knows. They were Hindu Kush and now their gone. I had to order Papayas to replace them. Its what I am growing now and had no issues with so I have to try it again. Where did I go wrong?

I've used vinegar to ph before and never had problems, so if I were you I would look for another problem before your new seeds arrive. How often did you water them? What kind of growing medium?

Its all the same as the grow before. Pro-Mix soiless, 8" pots, 10-15-10 nutes at 1/4 strength. I didn't really have any problems with the plants, I just wanted to lower the ph. That was the only change I made and 12 hours later, dead. I stuck the ph meter in the soil when I found them and it was UP to about 7.5. I lowered the waters ph to 6.5 and the soil was 7.2 BEFORE the vinegar. I'm out of ideas.

well how much viniger did you use to water?? and how muc water did you feed the young ones?

I added the vinegar to the water in a gallon container until the ph was at 6.5 then watered when the soil was dry on the top 1-1.5" or so.

LOL....sorry just goes to show dont believe everything you read on here !

There is no way i would ever put viniger on my plants ! indoor or out !!!!!
If i want o lower in soil outdoors - use hydrated lime to get it down ($5 KG )
and up = organic ferts.

Yup, it cost me $50 in seeds to learn that.

i used vinegar for probably 6 months...never had any problems. Although i know there are different kinds of vinegar....maybe you had a kind that screwed stuff up...? I dont know all i know is i never had a problem using vinegar

I've used it many times in a pinch before I got an RO Filtration system.

It didn't take but a few drops for me. How much did it take to get you to 6.5 ?

I cant recall exactly how much but it was more than a few drops for sure.

Douche Nozzle said:

I asked this question earlier in the organics section but their is never a lot of people looking in there so I'll try it here. I wanted to bring down the ph of my tap water from 7.2 to 6.5. Being cheap and not wanting to use a lot of chemicals I read about using vinegar. I mixed it with the water and checked the ph until it was at 6.5. I then let it sit and checked it again. I watered the seedlings and the next morning they were all laying down and really mushy in the stalks. All 9 of them were beyond help. I cut 2 and dipped in rooting hormone and stuck in dirt to try to save them but who knows. They were Hindu Kush and now their gone. I had to order Papayas to replace them. Its what I am growing now and had no issues with so I have to try it again. Where did I go wrong?

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I'll answer your question because you asked. I hope I don't come off as too preachy. You went wrong because you worried about about too much. In doing so you tried to solve a problem you may not have had in the first place.

What do I mean by that? I mean soil growers worry about PH far too much. Constantly monitoring PH: That's a hydro thing. In soil, PH testing should be done once, then repeated only if problems arise. Generally speaking, soil-based plants will tell you if there is a problem with PH. With soil, you have a much larger margin of error in relation to PH. A luxury hydro growers do not have, thus the constant PH monitoring.

This confusion between soil and hydro techniques is one of my main critiques of grow sites such as RIU. This co-mingling of techniques led to your mistake in trying to adjust the PH of your water. Vinegar is used as an herbicide by organic growers and should be avoided. If you prefer water with a neutral PH, use rainwater.

+Rep to you for asking where you went wrong. I hope I do not come off as too critical, but I thought you deserve an honest reply. One which may help another grower down the road.

Good luck and good growing.

7.2 ph is fine in soil...i woulda used it...

if it aint broke dont try to fix it next time.

it sounds like the plants were over watered in the end and thats what killed them, not the vinegar

but thats my opinion

No offense taken at all. That is what thise site is for. I had a little problem with the plants. I moved it to a larger pot and didn't give it enough time to work itself out. I thought I would try it and fucked it up. I am growing Papayas right now that are almost done and fucked them up big time all the way along. Read the thread in my sig from start to finish if you got time and see how hard of a time I had and still managed to grow them. All from asking questions and knowing when to listen. Thanks for the input.

dont be afraid of the acid, you only use a few drops of it...seriously, i use 10 drops per gallon to get my ph right, i have never used vinegar but i have used lemon juice with good results, but shit man you still want to be under 7 even in soil so get a bottle of acid and go to work

i've had successful crops before... and then one time i killed a whole batch of 12" tall plants by pH'ing water with vinegar.

so don't feel bad. it happens. I think that the test strips i was using were lying to me or something. Cuz it killed them real real fast. Like within 2 days i knew all of them would die.

better luck next time. and buy some pH up/down from the aquarium store if not from a site online.

so some people say that vinegar works and some dont
the question is : what vinegar?
i mean theres white, red, malt, apple, god knows what else
maybe you need a special kind?

oh yeah : and what everyone else said

you know, i used Apple Cider vinegar to lower my pH and it never worked out. The plants were screwed to begin with but i mean...it didnt seem right using it.

Its SUPER concentrated so i only need about 2-3 drops per gallon.

I have a feeling the ph meter is junk. I needed one right away for something and found one in town at a blue seal farm store. I won't trust it again. I'll buy a good one someday. Oh and I used distilled white vinegar.

Douche Nozzle said:

No offense taken at all. That is what thise site is for. I had a little problem with the plants. I moved it to a larger pot and didn't give it enough time to work itself out. I thought I would try it and fucked it up. I am growing Papayas right now that are almost done and fucked them up big time all the way along. Read the thread in my sig from start to finish if you got time and see how hard of a time I had and still managed to grow them. All from asking questions and knowing when to listen. Thanks for the input.

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That's a great attitude.

I believe I learn more from my failures than I do from my successes. Not to say I don't learn from a successful grow, I do. And even a successful grow can be fraught with mistakes which are overcome resulting in a large and savory harvest. Hell, even a near perfect successful grow has lessons to be learned. All we must do is pay attention. I suppose the painful lessons have more impact on us.

Success brings a nice harvest, but a harvest is with you only a short time. The knowledge and experience you gain from both mistakes and successes stay with you. Knowledge and experience cannot be smoked away.

Based on your posts here in this thread, you have the makings of a true grower. You have the right mind for it. I am unable to +rep you so soon after doing it previously so I will say to you, once again:

Good luck and good growing.

If you're going to use vinegar, uses white vinegar. I use Heinz myself, works like a charm. Although I've never given it to seedlings, I would think it a but too harsh for a baby. But like JohnnyOrganic said. If you're growing soil, don't over think the PH thing. I check mine pretty regularly, but I've also learned not to love my plants to death. You're plants will tell you when there's a problem.